Longitudinal shoe holder or stretcher with mounting means



Nov. 25, 1958 P. N. FLOCOS LONGITUDINAL SHOE HOLDER OR STRETCHER WITHMOUNTING MEANS Filed March 18, 1957 INVENTOR PE TE R FLO COS ATTORNEYSLONGITUDINAL SHOE HOLDER OR STRETCHER WITH MOUNTING MEANS Peter N.Flocos, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application March 18, 1957, Serial No. 646,839

Claims. (Cl. 1253.7)

The present invention relates to shoe holders and particularly to shoeholders adapted to be mounted on a wall for facilitating shoe polishingoperations.

A serious problem encountered in conventional shoe holders is theirinability to be satisfactorily adapted for various sizes of shoes.Numerous attempts have been made to solve this problem, for example, bymaking the toe portion or the heel portion adjustable in a forward orrearward direction. However, these attempts have not produced structureswhich are capable of convenient adjustment and also of satisfactorilyholding the shoe against movement.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the invention to provide anovel shoe holder particularly adapted to be conveniently adjusted foraccommodating and desirably supporting shoes of various sizes.

Another object resides in the provision of a novel combination of shoeand toe portions in a shoe holder adapted to securely retain shoes indesired position on the holder.

A further object is to provide an improved shoe holder of inexpensiveand durable construction.

An additional object resides in the provision of a novel means forattaching the shoe holder in operative position against a wall.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will bev in part obviousand in part pointed out hereinafter.

The novel features of the invention may be best made clear from thefollowing description and accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe holder of the invention; and

Figure 2 is a fragmentary and partially vertical sectional view of theheel portion and adjacent parts of the holder of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, a shoe holder of the invention preferablyincludes a horizontal bracket 12, and a toe portion 14 and heel portion16 defining a shoe form. In accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, toe portion 14 is slidably connected to the bracket 12for convenient adjustment thereof in a forward or rearward direction,and the heel portion 16 is continuously urged in a rearward directionfor firmly and securely engaging a shoe fitted on the holder.

The bracket 12 preferably is attached to a vertical wall by means ofvertical mounting plate 18. The plate 18 includes upper 20 and lower 22countersunk holes whereby the plate can be attached to the wall byconventional fasteners, such as screws or nails inserted through theseholes. The rear end of the bracket 12 and the plate 18' are providedwith structure permitting the shoe holder 10 to be detachably mounted onthe plate 18 in supported, horizontal position. An examplary embodimentof this structure includes a vertical plate 24 formed at the rear end ofthe bracket 12 and having downwardly converging side walls.26. Theseside Walls preferably are of dovetail configuration in a transverse orhorizontal section through plate 24, as shown, and are slidably mountedin a downwardly converging dove-tail slot in the vertical 2 plate 18.Such slot may be defined by upper 28 and lower 30 pairs of forwardly andinwardly projecting lugs formed in the plate 18, as shown. It will beunderstood that these upper lugs 28 may be joined to the lower lugs 30whereby the dove-tail slot will be defined by continuous verticallyextending side walls.

Thus, it will be seen that the bracket 12 may be conveniently andremovably arranged in operative horizontal position by insertion of thevertical plate 24 into the dovetail slot on plate 18, with the downwardconvergence of the engaged surfaces retaining the bracket in thisposition.

Referring again to the preferred construction of the toe portion 14 andthe heel portion 16, the toe portion 14 is illustrated as being ofnarrow, arched configuration, and as indicated above, is attached to thebracket 12 for adjustable projection or retraction thereof. For thispurpose, the bracket 12 is provided with a longitudinally extending bore32 (Figure 2), which may extend throughout the entire length thereof,and the toe portion 14 is joined to a horizontal stem 34 by theintermediate vertical section 37, as shown. The stem 34 is slidablydisposed within the bore 32 of the bracket 12, and these portionsrearward direction.

preferably are of polygonal sectional configuration, such asrectangular. The stem 34 includes a ratchet 36 on the upper surfacethereof with rearwardly extending teeth 38 and a pawl 40 is pivoted tothe upper forward end of the bracket, extending through opening 42therein for locking engagement with the ratchet teeth 38 to retain thestem 34 in adjusted axial position. The pawl 40 may be pivotally mountedby means of transverse pin 44 journalle'd within upstanding ears 46 onthe bracket, and includes a rearwardly extending finger-engageable tab48 continuously urged upwardly by a compression spring 50 acting on thebracket 12 and tab 48, as shown. This spring may be positioned byengagement to the lugs 52, 54 arranged respectively on the bracket 12and tab 48. As is evident, the stem 34 may be moved to the left, inFigure 2, without first depressing tab 48, but to move the stem to theright, it is necessary to depress tab 48 first, to disengage pawl 40from ratchet 36.

The toe portion 14, the stem 34 and intermediate section 37 may beformed integrally of metal in any suitable manner, such as by casting,and additionally, a finger grip loop or ring 56 is provided at the upperend of the intermediate section 37.

The bracket 12 and the wall portion 24 may also be of cast metalconstruction, and a vertical leg 58 preferably depends from the bracket12 adjacent the forward end thereof, as shown in Figure 2. A verticalchannelshaped member 69 is fixed in enclosing relationship to this leg58 as by bolts 61 and nuts 63, and opens in a A second channel-member 62is pivoted to the upper end of channel member 60, as by bolt 64extending through these members, and the second member 62 preferablyencloses the first member 60, as shown, A downwardly turned flange orlip 66 in the form of a bead is provided at the rear end of a base wall68 of the first member 60 (Figure 2), and an upturned flange 70 isformed at the forward end of base wall 72 on the second member 62. Theseflanges 66, 70 are normally retained in engagement with each other as bycompression spring 74 mounted within the channel mem- 1 position, avertical block 76 is fitted within the channel member 66 and retainedtherein as by screws 78.

The heel portion 16 may be formed of Wood, as indicated in Figure 2, orany other suitable material, and

.is secured to the lower portion ofthe channel member 62 by screws 80,to be continuously urged rearwardly therewith by the action of spring74.

The operation of the shoe holder will now be described. -The toe portion14 is moved to desired projected position with respect to the bracket12, with the pawl engaged in the ratchet to lock the toe portion in thisposition. A shoe is then fitted over the toe portion :14 and thechannel-shaped member 62 is then pivoted or moved forwardly to compressthe spring 74 so that the heel of the shoe may be fitted over portion16. At this time the channel member 62is released and will be firmlyurged against the adjacent portions of the interior of the shoe to urgethe latter in a rearward direction by reason of the movement induced byspring 74. It will be appreciated that the shoe will now be firmlyretained on the shoe holder 19 so that the usual polishing or other.operations may be performed without any danger of slippage or otherundesirable movements of the shoe. It is to be noted that when firstadjusting the toe portion 14 for a particular shoe, the toe portionshould be moved so that the distance between toe 14 and heel .16 isslightly greater than the size of the shoe to be mounted thereon. Inthis way, desired spring urged, locking engagement of .heel 16 in theheel of the shoe will be. assured. The fact that spring 74 is located amaximum distance from pivot pin or bolt 64 guarantees optimum biasing ofthe heel 16 rearwardly, inasmuch as the moment arm for the spring force,measured to pin 64 will also be a maximum.

It should be evident that by virtue of the novel arrange.- ment of theadjustable toe portion 14 and the continuously biased heel portion 16,the shoe holder 10 may be readily adapted for shoes of various sizes,and furthermore, it has been found to be highly satisfactory in securelyholding such various sizes of shoes against movements during polishingor cleaning.

It will be appreciated, that structural arrangements other thanchannel-shaped members 60, 62 will be suggested to those skilled in theart for mounting heel 16 as desired. The channelshaped member 60 may bewelded or otherwise secured to the bracket 12, omitting leg 58, and thespring 74 may be replaced by a solid mass of resilient material such asrubber or other equivalent compression spring means. Additionally, thechannel-shaped members may be connected to each other for relativereciprocating, rather than pivoting or oscillating movement. That is,channel member .62 may be arranged for straight line forward andrearward movement, instead of swinging, with a compression spring stillurging this member rearwardly. Suitable structure other than the ratchet36 and pawl 40 may be provided for permitting axial adjustment of thestem 34.

The toe portion 14 preferably is of such size that it will desirablyreceive the narrow toe portions of certain types of shoes such as ladiesshoes, but may be enlarged as by utilization of a cover or cap 14'fitted thereover as indicated in phantom lines in Figure 1. This cap 14preferably is also of arched configuration, substantially complementaryto the toe portion 14 and may be secured thereto by any suitable means,such as bolt extending through the toe portion 14 and engaged to nut(not shown).

It will be appreciated that the shoe holder 10, while being completelydetachable from the wall in the manner described above, is alsocharacterized by a retractable toe portion 14 whereby the amount ofhorizontal projection of the shoe holder 10 from the vertical wall towhich it is attached, may be desirably reduced to minimize the danger ofinadvertent bumping or contact of the shoe holder when not in use, yetthe holder is still adapted, by adjustment of the stem portion 34, toaccommodate shoes of relatively large sizes.

It will thus be seen that the objects of this invention have been fullyand eifectively accomplished. It be realized, however, that theforegoing specific embodiment has been shown and described only for thepurpose of illustrating the principles of the invention and is subjectto extensive change without departure from such principles. Therefore,this invention includes all modification encompassed within the spiritand' scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

;1. A shoe holder comprising: a horizontal bracket, a toe portion and aheel portion constituting a shoe form, said toe portion slidablyconnected to said bracket adjacent one end of the bracket for adjustableoutward projection thereof, a rigid member rigidly secured .to anddepending from said bracket rearwardly of said toe portion, said heelportion pivotally engaged to said member, and spring means actingbetween said member and said heel portion and urging said heel portionrearwardly away from said toe portion.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein said heel portion includes alever arm pivotally connected to said member adjacent said bracket andsubstantially coextensive with said member, a heel form attached to saidarm adjacent the lower end thereof, and means for limiting relativepivotal movement between said member and said arm.

3. A shoe holder comprising: a horizontal bracket having means at oneend engageable to a vertical wall for supporting said bracket, saidbracket having a longitudinal bore therein, a stem slidably mounted insaid bore and extending forwardly therefrom, a ratchet portion on saidstem, a pawl pivoted to said bracket and spring urged into lockingengagement with said ratchet portion, a toe v portion depending from theouter end of said stem, a leg depending from the forward end of saidbracket rearwardly of said toe portion, a first channel-shaped memberfixed vertically to' said leg and opening in a rearward direction, asecond channel-shaped member connected to the upper end of said firstmember for limited pivotal movement and opening in a forward direction,one of said channel-shaped members fitting within the other, a heel formattached to the lower end of said second channelshaped member anddefining an adjustable shoe form with said toe portion, and compressionspring means intermediate said channel-shaped members and continuouslyurging said second channel-shaped member to pivot rearwardly away fromsaid first member.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 wherein the channel-shaped membersare substantially coextensive, said first member fitting within saidsecond member, and a base wall at the bottom of each member.

5. The structure defined in claim 4 wherein a downturned flange isformed at the rear end of the base wall on said first member and anupturned flange is formed at the front end of the base wall on saidsecond member forwardly of said downturned flange, and further whereinsaid compression spring means is disposed within said channel-shapedmembers adjacent the base walls thereof normally biasing said upturnedflange against said downturned flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

